FIG. 1 provides a cutaway view of an example turbine engine comprising a compressor section 12, a combustor section 14, a turbine section 16 and an exhaust section 18. In operation, the compressor section 12 can induct ambient air and can compress it. The compressed air from the compressor section 12 can enter one or more combustors 20 in the combustor section 14. The compressed air can be mixed with the fuel, and the air-fuel mixture can be burned in the combustors 20 to form a hot working gas. The hot gas can be routed to the turbine section 16 where it is expanded through alternating rows of stationary airfoils and rotating airfoils and used to generate power that can drive a rotor 26. The expanded gas exiting the turbine section 16 can be exhausted from the engine 10 via the exhaust section 18.
The exhaust section 18 can be configured as a diffuser 28, which can be a divergent duct formed between an outer shell 30 and a center body or hub 32 and a tail cone 34. The primary function of the exhaust diffuser 28 is to convert kinetic energy into potential energy, increasing the pressure of the fluid and decreasing its velocity. The diffuser is typically designed as a divergent duct shape with support struts 36, and design requirements have been formulated in the past years to tune its shape optimizing the aerodynamic performances. However the current design still has limitations, in terms of energy losses, which are not overcome by implementing small design variations. In addition, the size of the current design of the diffuser is typically large (axial length of about 20 meters), making its manufacturing, transportation, installation and maintenance very complex and expensive.
Design variations on the basic divergent duct shape have been introduced in the past, for example, by studying the angle of the divergent surface attachment, using splitter vanes or vortex generators, or wall riblets and aerodynamically shaped support structures designed to reduce air drag. However these design implementations were proposed as ad-hoc unique modifications, dictated by the prior engineering experience. Accordingly, it is desired to generate an aerodynamic-based design tool which automatically generates novel design paradigms for the turbine exhaust diffuser.